6B gas turbines to be used in Australian combined cycle

In a joint venture with EPC firm CH2M Hill, UGL Limited has recently been awarded a $550 million contract for the construction of a combined cycle power plant for the Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Northern Territory of Australia. As part of the agreement, GE will engineer and supply gas turbines, steam turbines and heat recovery steam generators for the $32.63 billion project. The CH2M Hill-UGL joint venture will design and supply the rest of the plant, as well as constructing the project.

GE will supply five GE frame 6B gas turbines and three SC4 single-flow steam turbines that will provide 500 MW of installed power capacity for the facility. Works for the design, procurement and fabrication of the combined cycle power plant are expected to commence immediately, with an on-site commencement in mid-2013 and completion expected by the end of 2016.

GE’s gas and steam turbine technology will generate electricity for the onshore facility based at Blaydin Point, Darwin, enabling it to produce more than eight million tonnes of LNG each year. The onshore facility will be linked to the offshore drilling and processing facilities in the Browse Basin off Western Australia by an 885-kilometer undersea pipeline.